This Is How I Disappear
by Laura-Liz
Summary: Yu Yevon has been destroyed, but does that mean everything will be okay? *MASSIVE SPOILERS!*


It was over; Sin was dead. All over Spira, fayth statues became petrified as they were no longer needed. It seemed as if Spira were truly alive to it's surroundings and was able to alter to the new adaptations that occurred. Of course, the fayth were the ones reacting to the changes; they could finally rest.

Six people stood on an Al-Bhed airship, closer to the spectacle of a dying monstrosity than anyone could ever imagine. Though, now it was subdued, Sin seemed almost submissive; as it had wanted to be defeated after a year of mercilessly destroying homes and lives. The young blonde boy knew. He knew because it was his father who had taken on the unholy-armour of Sin, and every time he came into contact with the death-bringer he could hear the faint voice of his father begging to be killed. Each time it had become more of a whisper but still, Tidus heard the pleas of a desperate man.

Yuna danced. Danced, like she had done in Kilika: like she had done on the Djose shore: like she had done for Jyscal, Jecht and Auron. This time, she was sending Sin and the aeons. The ones who had helped her complete her journey were the ones she needed to set free. In previous sendings her tears proved evident of the sorrow she felt, watching the pyreflies of the deceased sway about her. Now she smiled. Yuna knew that she would live to continue life while her friends stayed by her side. Always.

Suddenly, Sin exploded into millions of golden pyreflies, spanning over Spira, announcing that it were surely abolished. To declare the death of something so vile that crumbled the smiles of many with such a spectacular scene seemed extraordinary; people all over Spira gasped with amazement and shock.

One by one, Yuna released the aeons from their physical forms allowing them to rest after so many years, as their pyreflies drifted away to find the Farplane. Tidus watched; he remembered the beginning of their journey when Yuna let herself be dragged away by the rushing current of conformity. She chooses her own path now. In Zanarkand, she refused to sacrifice a guardian just so Spira could live in ignorant bliss for ten years before Sin was reborn. She refused to take that same path so many had taken before her.

As the pyreflies of the aeons danced about the deck of the airship, Tidus smiled after observing the 'new' Yuna. But he didn't feel normal; he felt as if he were being pulled apart by some unknown internal force, it was as if all his strength were being pushed into keeping himself together. Looking down at his outstretched hands, Tidus' joy turned to sadness; he was fading. He had foolishly hoped that the fayth in Bevelle was wrong and that he wouldn't disappear after Sin was defeated. He knew this would happen, yet he wasn't fully prepared when it did. Tidus looked up to Yuna, hoping she would barely notice his absence when it happened. He didn't want her to be sad, especially not when she had just freed Spira.

Shaking her head, not unlike a stubborn child, Yuna stood before him. "No," she murmured. She didn't understand why this was happening, even though he had told them all before the fight with Yu Yevon that he would disappear. Was it because he is not from Spira?

"Yuna," he directed her, calmly though filled with disappointment. "I have to go." Hands on hips, as though embarrassed, he avoided her gaze as much as possible. He felt guilty of not telling Yuna about what would happen when they beat Sin, but if he had explained would she have done it? It wasn't something that Yuna could've forgotten once told, especially as she had refused to give up one of her guardians' lives to let Spira sleep safely for a decade.

Yuna shook her head again, not wanting to believe what she was hearing. He said he would always stay with her, even after they defeated Sin. She didn't want to lose him, not now that Spira was truly safe and she had finished her pilgrimage.

"I'm sorry I couldn't show you Zanarkand." Tidus tried to keep the conversation casual and as short as possible; he hated long farewells. He knew, despite what he thought, that he would cry if he stuck around a while longer. The fact that he wasn't even sure how long he had left also crossed his mind; he didn't want to vanish mid-conversation. He walked forward until he was level with Yuna, though looking out towards the front of the airship; not wanting to see an ounce of pain in her eyes. "Goodbye!" he exclaimed to the group. It was only now that he regretted meeting and becoming close to those five people; it made it harder to say goodbye when the time came.

"Hey!" Wakka shouted after him, though he continued to walk towards the edge. He didn't even quite know what he wanted to say. Wakka just wanted him not to go; Tidus had become like another younger brother to him after Chappu had been gone. It was as if he were losing another brother; a pain he was accustomed to but still cut deep.

The young Al-Bhed girl took a few desperate steps forward. "We're gonna see you again…?" Rikku yelled, though she wasn't sure of it were a statement or a question, trying to sound optimistic but failing terribly.

Tidus didn't want to turn around; he didn't want to remind himself of what he was losing. Yuna tilted her head slightly, watching him walk slowly out of her life while she stood by doing nothing. Perhaps he wasn't fading? Maybe he could stay with her and his goodbye would be obsolete. So, she ran towards him; Yuna wanted to hold him, like he held her at Macalania, and be together for the rest of their lives.

"Yuna!" Kimahri shouted in a bid to stop her, instead alerting Tidus to the summoner's presence; he turned to meet Yuna with outstretched arms as he, too, did the same to embrace her.

Yuna fell through Tidus; he was no longer a physical being, he was fading more by the second. Everyone gasped as Yuna lay on her front, watching pyreflies drift by sadly. She allowed tears to fall when the realisation of never being able to hold him again hit her, the same time she hit the airship deck. Tidus watched his pyreflies dance delicately about him, almost taunting him, declaring the end of his existence in Spira.

As he sobbed quietly, Yuna stood with her back to him – as his was to her – and looked to the night sky, not wanting to bear the heartbreak of watching him go. She remembered Macalania again, and how he helped save her from Seymour, and how he had been with her all the way of her journey; even though they were momentarily apart, he was always with her in thought. "I love you." Yuna had wanted to say that at the right moment, presumably after Sin was destroyed, but he was slowly disappearing from her life so she had to declare her feelings now.

Hearing her clear words, Tidus turned with a sorrowful expression etched upon his face as he would never hear that phrase spoken from her again. Walking with gentle strides to his love, her back still to him, he wrapped his partially faded arms around her still shoulders, returning his feelings. After a moment or two, he walked through Yuna so they were as one for a second, before continuing to the end of the airship.

Swallowing his anguish like a bitter medicine, Tidus ran. Before reaching the very ledge, he jumped off into the clouds and vanished.

Disappeared.


End file.
